Starfield: How to Locate and Survey an Ecosystem

Starfield is filled with quests for players to complete. Some are unique, following a storyline that explores a part of the game’s universe, while others are less so. These smaller quests, also known as Activities, are often repeatable, such as Constellation’s survey missions.

Once players meet Constellation, they can dive in and pick up missions from the Constellation Mission Board in The Lodge. The highest-paid missions are all linked to locating and surveying ecosystems, but the game does a terrible job of explaining what’s required to complete them.

Related: Starfield Complete Guide – Quest, Lore, Story & Trailers

How to Locate an Ecosystem in Starfield

To locate an ecosystem in Starfield, players need to use the scanner to scan every resource, flora, and fauna on it. Then, they need to figure out the planet’s Traits. Only after that will the ecosystem count as discovered and complete a mission set by Constellation.

We spent a long time trying to figure this out and have some tips to help players blast their way through these missions quickly. For us, the mission we were trying to complete was “Locate a Charred Ecosystem in the Alpha Tirna System.”

These missions are all different for every player because they’re procedurally generated. However, the format and solutions are all the same. That’s why the tips below will help any player struggling with one of these missions get to the end of it quickly.

Land in Multiple Locations and Scan Everything

To locate an ecosystem in Starfield, it’s best to start by scanning everything on the planet. This means finding every resource, flora, and fauna and scanning them all to 100%. The easiest way to do this is to land in multiple locations and scan everything nearby.

Resources are pretty easy to scan, but for flora and fauna, players may need to put in some legwork and track down every type of creature that exists. This can be made faster by following hunters and tracking all the creatures that pop up around them as they go about their business.

Search Caves for Rare Resources

The rarest resources in Starfield are tough to find on a planet’s surface. However, they’re usually pretty abundant in caves. We find that if there’s one rare resource we’ve yet to find, looking inside a cave usually sorts us out. Starfield seems to like hiding these elements away from prying eyes to make them feel scarcer, but they’re just as common if players know where to look.

Caves are also just a great place to find some of the more flavorful environmental storytelling Bethesda has sprinkled into the game. For example, we found a cave that had turrets set up everywhere. After fighting through them, the camp we found was modest. It seemed that a miner had been doing his own thing and sleeping in the cave, enjoying a boo on the founder of Chunks every night.

Look for Geological Features to Unlock Traits

Geological features are all linked to planet Traits. It’s easy to see how many Traits a planet has from the planetary map. The one we were exploring had three. To find these geological features, players must visit unknown landmarks in the distance while exploring. These almost always turn out to be a geological feature, and fully scanning them unlocks a Trait.

We had to land in three different areas and visit unknown landmarks at each one to unlock all three Traits for the planet we were exploring. The features we surveyed were Deep Ocean Deposits, Sinister Terraces, and a Meteorite Crater.